Meat+Poultry - March 2021 - 41

W

hile exponential growth of the
global population shows no signs
of slowing down, food companies
are working to feed their customers using
processing equipment to produce products
with an emphasis on efficiency and speed. A
lack of labor requires innovative solutions to
produce the food necessary to meet demand.
Poultry offers a relatively inexpensive and
healthy protein, and automation continues to
make processing chickens easier and faster.
Boneless cuts of chicken have reigned supreme
in recent years and continue to be the most
popular among shoppers. So, processors seek
to debone chicken as quickly and efficiently as
possible to serve the market.

Foodmate

ADVANTAGE AUTOMATION
Traditional manual deboning puts large groups
of workers on the production line in close
proximity and wielding knives with intentions
of separating bones from meat fast. This
can create a number scenarios not ideal to
processing safety and efficiency.
" The biggest advantage for automation
is the significant reduction in labor and
injuries associated with manual deboning, "
said Oliver Hahn, chief executive officer for
Kansas City, Kan.-based Baader Poultry USA.
" Additionally, automation delivers consistent
performance where a manual process can lead
to inconsistencies. "
Larry Campbell, vice president of poultry
sales for Lenexa, Kan.-based Marel, adds
that current pandemic conditions exacerbate
the scarcity of human labor and create an
urgency to keep the number of people on the
production floor to a minimum. Fewer workers
on the floor provides space to maintain social
distance and lowers the risk of contamination.
" Both circumstances almost force
processors to automate all operations, which
were mostly done manually until now, "
Campbell said. " This certainly applies to the
deboning department, which is often a large
room full of manually cutting operators.
However, most deboning systems require
manual shackling of the products to the line,
which still means a lot of human workforce.
Only the most advanced deboning solutions
operate in-line, without the need for manual
intervention. Keeping the entire process in-line,
like Marel systems do, offers many advantages. "

Adam McCoy, national account manager for
Ball Ground, Ga.-based Foodmate agrees that
automated deboning relieves the pressures of
insufficient labor and increases product quality
and added, " ...having the ability to process
product even on short-staffed days. "
All the advantages an automated deboning
line provides makes it a wise investment for
chicken processors, but potential processing
customers want certain things before they
pull the trigger on what amounts to a major
capital investment.

Automated deboning
for legs and thighs has
caught on industry wide
in the United States.

EXPECTATIONS
Many processing customers understand
reduced labor costs come with the installation
of an automated line, as well as higher yields
and safety, but the bottom line always rules
when it comes to spending.
" The payback on a Mayekawa Toridas
deboning system can be less than one
year based on yield improvement alone,
not including labor savings, which can
also be a huge benefit, " said Russ Stroner,
global vice president of sales at Cantrell
Gainco, Gainesville, Ga. " Finally, customers
want low cost of ownership and ease of
maintenance. The Mayekawa system has a
lower cost of ownership than other dark meat
deboning systems. "
Hahn said his customers' primary concerns
include labor savings and maintenance or
improvement of current yields and adds,
" Cost of ownership and the ability to maintain
performance are a close second. "
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